With a scorching 121 points, We Takes the Money led the league this round. Captain David Villa (NYC, $11.3) led the team with 36 points on the strength of two goals. Behind him was the duo of Romain Alessandrini (LA, $10.3) and Nemanja Nikolic (CHI, $10.5), each of whom tallied a goal and an assist for 12 points. !BL4CKnRED still leads overall.
Positional Leaders
Goalkeepers
Tim Melia (SKC, $5.8) posted a clean sheet and 10 points to lead the goalkeepers, followed closely by David Bingham (SJ, $6.2), who did the same for 9 points. A trio of players earned clean sheets of their own and 8 points — Luis Robles (NYR, $6.1), Nick Rimando (RSL, $6.1), and Alex Bono (TOR, $5.1). D.C.’s Bill Hamid ($5.7) scored 4 points.
Defenders
San Jose’s Andres Imperiale ($5.2) had a clean sheet and 12 points, leading the defenders. Meanwhile, six more defenders had clean sheets and 10 points — Damien Perinelle (NYR, $5.7), Matt Besler (SKC, $7.2), Ike Opara (SKC, $6.2), Eriq Zavaleta ($5.2), and Chris Mavinga (TOR, $5.6). For DCU, Kofi Opare ($4.4) had 4 points, while Steve Birnbaum ($5.8) and Taylor Kemp ($5.6) had 3, and Chris Korb ($4.2) had 2.
Midfielders
Ignacio Piatti (MTL, $10.8) scored two goals and added an assist for 15 points and the positional lead, while his teammate, Blerim Dzemaili ($8.8) scored 13 points on the strength of a goal and an assist. Romain Alessandrini’s 12 points rounded out the top three. The United midfield was led by Jared Jeffrey’s ($5.2) 4 points; followed by Ian Harkes ($5.7) with 3 points; Luicano Acosta ($8.3), Lamar Neagle ($7.3), Patrick Nyarko ($7.8), and Lloyd Sam ($8.1) with 2 points; and Julian Buescher ($5.4) and Sebastien Le Toux ($6.2) with 1 point.
Forwards
David Villa’s 18 points led all forwards and all players. Bradley Wright-Phillips (NYR, $10.3) scored twice on the way to 13 points, while Nemanja Nikolic’s 12 points were good enough for third. For DCU, just Jose Ortiz ($6.7) scored 1 point.
Looking Ahead
Eight teams play twice this week — Colorado, D.C., L.A., Orlando, Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, and Minnesota. Everyone else plays once, and games start on Wednesday night. There are some good two-game options among this crop of teams. In goal, with games @DC and vs. Colorado, it’s as good a time as ever to play Atlanta’s Alec Cann ($4.4), assuming that Brad Guzan doesn’t step right into the starting job upon his arrival on Monday, seeing as he’s leaving a week later to join the U.S. National Team. In defense, go with Joevin Jones (SEA, $5.2) and his matches vs. Orlando and @Portland. In the midfield, go with Romain Alessandrini @Colorado and vs. SKC, as he’s scored or assisted a goal in six straight games. At forward, Josef Martinez (ATL, $9.4) has just 55 minutes of MLS action in two substitute appearances since his injury return, but he played 90 minutes and scored in Atlanta’s Open Cup game against Charleston on Wednesday, and he scored again this past weekend against Columbus. He’s a good option, even if I expect that he’ll start one game and come off the bench in the other this round.